Curiosity Enamored the Cat
by jillybellys
Summary: Chat Noir knows he should stop looking for the identity of Ladybug. He also knows he should stop thinking about his classmate Marinette. But he cant bring himself to stop doing either. When his feelings for a certain classmate grow he finds he cant help but worry for her safety when she constantly seems to be at the center of akuma attacks. As he comes closer to the identity of his
1. Deadly Frosting

Chat Noir was no detective, as much as he'd like to fancy himself one. Occasionally he liked to imagine himself as a noir style detective (pun intended!), searching for answers. Specifically answers relating to the identity of a certain super heroine. He clicked through the different posts of the LadyBlog whilst imagining himself in an old black and white mystery movie.

The most recent piece from Alya was yet another speculation on the true identity of LadyBug. The wannabe sleuth read over each theory again and again. He knew they were supposed to keep their identities secret, he probably shouldn't have been looking in the first place. If LB ever found out would there be hell to pay.

"You know for someone who wouldn't even sneak a peek at her when she changed back that one time, you sure are persistent in finding out who she is," Plagg said as he lazily floated up to Adrien's level. "But what do I know, humans never make sense to me anyways."

Adrien sighed and pushed away from his computer. He collapsed his web browser and let it return to the home screen (partially so he could admire his computer wallpaper, who of course was a certain black and red clad heroine). "I didn't want to betray her trust like that…" he said holding out his hand so the little catlike demi god could rest on his palm.

"And obsessively searching for clues about her identity behind her back isn't doing that?" said demi god asked as he began to nibble on some cheese he had taken from his stash of camembert.

The pungent smell rose to Adrien's nostrils causing him to wrinkle his nose. "I mean, it's not like I'm really going to find out who she is this way."

"Then why even bother?" Plagg mumbled stuffing the rest of the cheese into his mouth while he spoke.

"I don't know." The boy sighed and slid his companion onto the desk so he could fold his arms and rest his head upon them. His eyes flickered up to his computer screen again. Ladybug always looked so dashing, her confident smile, her beaming bright blue eyes, that little cock of her eyebrow that drove him wild. Every little thing she did let loose a horde of butterflies in his stomach (all thankfully not of the akuma variety). "I feel like I'm never going to find out who she really is." He sighed and pulled his eyes away from the screen.

Plagg groaned and put a paw on Adrien's arm "Well not with that attitude. Besides maybe one day she'll get over this whole 'having a secret identity' thing. Till then you got your Ladybug dolls to keep you company." he said, floating over to stand near a shelf that housed a variety of Ladybug merchandise.

Adrien shot a icy glare up. "Action figures Plagg, not dolls."

Plagg laughed and leaned on a figure that was striking the pose LB did when summoning her lucky charm. "Right right sure 'action figures'" he laughed before he started to lose his balance, he quickly braced against the statue but only managed to knock it off its perch on the shelf.

"Plagg be careful-" the boy yelped as he lunged forward, attempting to catch the collectable, only managing to grasp air. A smash echoed through the room and Adrien winced surveying the damage.

The plastic version of Ladybug now lay in three pieces. Her fractured body was face down on the desk, her left leg flung to the edge of the surface and her right arm had flown over by his keyboard. "Aw no…." he groaned grabbing the dismembered figure. "Plagg this is why I tell you not to touch my collectibles." He looked over the damage and ran his thumb over where the limbs had separated, assessing how clean the break was and if he could repair it or not.

The little ball of bad luck floated down to the desk with a somber look on his face. "I'm sorry Adrien…" he said while picking up one of the fallen body parts and offering it up to his charge. "I didn't think it'd break so easily."

"It's alright. I think I'll be able to fix it, I got some glue around here somewhere," Adrien said feigning a smile and taking the arm from Plagg.

As he began to search through his desk drawer, a sudden BOOM from outside caught his attention.

"That can't be good." Adrien groaned peering through his window to see a brightly dressed man hurling exploding cupcakes at passers by.

"See you get on me about my taste in snacks, but at least mine aren't deadly," the Kwami said looking out at the chaos, frosting everywhere. Plagg gagged a bit at the site of so much overly sweet desserts.

"Come on Plagg, claws out!" Adrian called as he rose his hand to his face and clenched his fist. The demi god zoomed into his miraculous and in a flash of green the blonde haired model transformed into his alter ego, clad in black and cat ears.

Chat crept out his window and scaled his way up the building. From the roof he got a good view of the ensuing chaos as frosting flew everywhere and people fled from the streets. "Looks like he's got a talent for cooking up trouble."

Surveying the scene the superhero didn't see his companion anywhere. She almost always beat him to the punch. He pouted for a moment before squaring his shoulders and extending his rod. With a few steps back Chat leapt from the building and into the fray.

The villain let out a maniacal laugh as he beamed a cupcake at a screaming girl. Chat leaped in front of her, deflecting the pastry with his staff and sending it right back. The baker gone bad managed to dodge it and grinned. "Ah Chat Noir good of you to drop in, but I'm afraid you're no match for my delectable concoctions!" All at once dozens of cupcakes came flying.

As he pushed the civilian girl to safety (who he swore was making goo goo eyes at him) Adrien couldn't dodge the attack in time. The cakes exploded into giant globs of frosting on impact, covering him head to toe. The boy grimaced as he licked some stray pink cream off his face. "Delectable is not the word I would go with." he said "disastrous seems more accurate."

The man sneered "I, Copcake, am the greatest baker in all of Paris. Even if no one else sees the genius in my creations." he scoffed. The frosting around the cat began to harden and Copcake grinned with glee watching him struggle against it. "Now if you'd be so kind as to stick around here, I have some justice to administer before I return for your miraculous." The baker turned on his heels and started down the street "Tom and Sabines Boulangerie Patisserie, you will grovel under my baked goods of justice!"

"And I thought these villain names couldn't get any worse." Adrien groaned Wait, Tom and Sabines? I know that place. Marrienete! He instantly started to struggle against his frosting bonds. He had to free himself, he wasn't about to let a rogue pastry chef destroy his friend or her family's business. Adrien had very few friends (thank you ever so much homeschooling), he'd be damned if he saw any one of them get hurt thanks to his incompetence. His struggles seemed futile however, and produced nothing but sore muscles. Still, he wasn't going to even entertain the thought of giving up.

Finally his hand had broke free enough to get a firm grasp of his staff, he clicked a button on the handle and it extended, breaking open the hardening frosting in the process. As he began to dash down the street Chat really hoped Ladybug would be there. He didn't like doing these things alone and the thought of his friend defenseless against an Akuma made him worried enough as it was.

Chat tore through the streets at top speed, following his own memory of the Depain-Cheng bakery and a rather helpful trail of cupcake frosting. As he rounded the corner he saw the bakery, piles of frosting everywhere with the door smashed in. "Oh man this isn't good." he groaned running inside.

Inside the mess was just as bad, the gorgeous and delicious macarons of the Patisserie were strewn about the floor. His eyes followed the mess and the evil cackling to see Marinette squaring off against Copcake. She was lobbing eggs at the man and rather successfully dodging his attacks. Chat paused and puzzled over the sight for a second before snapping back into action.

"Marinette!" He yelped leaping in front of the girl. "I'm egg-static to see you" He said whilst grinning and spinning his staff, deflecting the incoming deserts of doom. "But never fear Princess, Chats here!"

"My hero" she said with a little role of her eyes, knowing Chat probably wouldn't pick up so well on the sarcasm.

And indeed he didn't as the boy turned around to give her a wink "As much as I love the praise, why don't you get to safety while me and LB take this guy out?"

Marinette nodded "Sounds good," she said while making a break for the exit, leaving the Akuma to Chat.

Before she could make it over the threshold Copcake spotted her. "Oh no you don't Miss Depain-Cheng" he growled hurling a cupcake at the bakery entrance, "You and your family think your bakery is so much better than mine do you? I don't care if you won that award or not, my baking shall reign supreme!"

Chat watched as Marinette dodged the attack, turning on her heels and sliding to safety. Wasting no time she scooped up a pile of croissants and used them as projectiles. Since when was Marinette this brave? He probably would have kept admiring her skill if her gaze hadn't snapped to him suddenly "Chat Noir watch out!"

A cupcake zoomed past the hero's head, grazing his hair and leaving a bit of frosting on the tips. "Aw come on man don't mess up the hair" he said while trying to get it out, only to have it harden instead. Another desert came zooming for him as he was distracted, hitting him square in the jaw. The awful stuff expanded over his face and began to harden over his mouth and nose. He heard Mari scream his name as he struggled against the suffocating frosting.

Marinette paused and looked around frantically. Then as if a light bulb had suddenly lit up over her head she sprung and rushed into action. She snagged a flour sack that had fallen on the floor and then in one fluid motion sent it flying towards Copcake. As the bag collided with the Akuma it sent him flying back, and filled the air with white powder.

While the villain coughed and shielded his eyes from the flour Mari sized her chance and pulled the suffocating Chat to cover behind one of the counters. He saw her hands fly to the hardened frosting on his face as she began to pull. "Come on help me" she pleaded, the frosting only barely budging under her efforts.

Adrien joined her, tugging with all his might on the mask of desert. It broke free all at once falling out of their grip and clattering on the ground. He took in a big gasp of air and heaved deep for a few seconds "T-thanks, that was a frostingly difficult situation-"

"Escape now, puns later!" the girl said, though Chat spotted the faintest of smiles on her lips at his joke. Taking his wrist again she started running towards the back of the shop, "There's an entrance to my family's apartment through the back of the bakery, if we hurry we might be able to beat him to it and-"

"Marinette" Chat cried as a torrent of cupcakes hit her all at once, the explosion of the frosting sending him back whilst it pinned the girl to the wall. He saw as she shielded her face with her arms before the frosting took hold, the desert enveloping her.

"No!" He sprung towards the heap, banging against the hardened surface "I'll get you out I promise!" he yelled, hoping his words would somehow reach his schoolmate through the thick barrier of frosting. Where on earth was Ladybug? He couldn't keep this up alone!

After several unsuccessful attempts to break the thing open, Chat raised his hand into the air "Catacly-" before he could summon his power Copcake rammed into him, sending the pair crashing through one of the shop windows and out into the street.

"Just you and me now you pesky feline," the akuma laughed, dodging an incoming swipe from Chat's staff.

"I don't have time for this." he growled, the image of Mari suffocating inside the frosting filled his head. He tried to shake it off and push forward, this guy was going down.

Chat rose his staff to strike, only to have Copcake grab it mid air. With one strong pull from the super villain Chat felt the rod slip from his hands. The baker sneered and tossed the weapon to the side.

As the staff clattered to the floor Adrien lunged towards it, seeing the incoming cupcake too late as it hit his legs. It didn't take long for the substance to harden around his lower body, immobilizing him.

"Now then," Copcake cackled slowly approaching while tossing one of his cupcakes in his hand. Hawkmoths insignia glowed around the akuma's face. "Time to take your miraculous" he said snatching Chats hand.

"Not so fast Copcake!" a voice called from behind him.

Chat's eyes lit up "Ladybug!" he called.

The sight of her made his heart soar (and not just because of his dire circumstances and need of assistance). Her head cocked to the side with a determined look and Adrian drank it all in during those few seconds of bliss while she swung her yoyo around. She smiled and sent her yoyo flying. It curled around Copcake and yanked him back away from her partner. "I think it's time you get a taste of your own desert." she said flinging him into one the hunks of hardened frosting.

Adrien had to shake himself out of his infatuation and bring his focus back. "I've had just about enough of this." he said, holding out his free arm "Cataclysm!" and with one touch his frosting prison disintegrated.

"Chat Noir! The akuma's in his hat!" Ladybug yelled as she deflected Copcake's projectiles with her yoyo.

"On it My Lady!" Chat said, lunging for the deranged baker and tussling him to the ground. Multiple attempts to grab the hat failed, but he kept trying. They wrestled on the ground before Copcake managed to throw the hero off. He shook it off quickly and crouched, ready to try again. As he jumped up to attack, his eyes fell upon the bakery. He bit his lip, trying not to think about Marinette. Just hold on a bit more Mari . "Let's get some cupcakes to go and wrap this up!" he called out to Ladybug who nodded firmly.

Swinging her yoyo up into the air Adrien had to stop himself from swooning as she called out for her lucky charm.

"A baseball bat?" She mused holding the charm in her hand. It took her only a moment. Chat watched between dodging cupcakes as LB's eyes darted around the scene, a look of realization crossing her face. "Chat Noir! Go for the outfield, I got this pitcher!"

Copcake gritted his teeth as Chat sprung away, running past him. "You" the villain growled readying his next frosting bomb. "I'll get your miraculous!" he yelled while aiming and firing dead center for LadyBug.

"Batter up!" The heroine swung the bat, sending the cupcake right back at the akuma. It hit him dead center in the chest and exploded into a mess of pink frosting. As it hardened around him Copcake struggled but to no avail. Ladybug snatched the hat from his head and promptly tore it in two, a dark butterfly flying from the discarded object.

Chat heaved a sigh of relief as he watched his partner snatch the akuma and de-evalize it. The white butterfly freed from the yo-yo rose into the air while Ladybug tossed her lucky charm. A pure pink and white light enveloped everything, erasing all the frosting and restoring the bakery.

"Pound it." The girl smiled holding out her fist for her partner.

He grinned and returned the gesture "A bit late to the party this time huh?"

"I dunno looks like you were having plenty of fun without me"

"Well I had some help from… Oh no!" Chat felt panic run through him, replacing his adrenaline from the fight. The image of his friend trapped filled his mind in fear. "Marinette!" He darted back into the bakery. His eyes searched everywhere, the bakery was back to its pristine self and while all the evil frosting had disappeared, so to it seemed had Marinette.

"Marinette!" He called out again, searching high and low for her. Was he too late? Had they not saved the day in time? Where had she gone?

"Chat!" Ladybug called as she ran into the bakery after him "Its- It's fine, I freed her and she ran to safety."

Adrien turned to her and let his fear leave him through a deep sigh. "Oh! Phew I was scared there for a minute." In all the chaos he had nearly forgotten about Mari, he wasn't sure what he would have done if Ladybug had come any later. They hadn't had a chance to test what happened if Ladybug used her miraculous's restoration powers if some one was seriously hurt, or worse, during an akuma attack. Frankly neither was in a rush to find out either.

Ladybug gave a reassuring smile "No need to be a scaredy cat." she said. "I'm sorry I was so late this time."

Chat smiled, putting his hands behind his head and leaning on his heels "It's not a team without you bugaboo."

At nearly the same time both their miraculous began to beep, signaling that it was time to scram. "Well I'd love to stay and Chat, but I really must dash" he said. Ladybug only groaned at his pun, which made him grin from ear to ear "You love my puns, I know it! Till next time My Lady!"

And with that both dashed in opposite directions. Chat allowed himself one little look back. He saw a little flash of pink light from one of the alleyways. As much as the thought tempted him, he turned tail and kept running the other way.

* * *

Adrien wasted no time flopping onto his bed. His muscles ached all over and he groaned rolling onto his back.

"I need a whole mountain of camembert after today," moaned Plagg, as he was already in the middle of devouring a plate full of cheese.

The TV flickered in the background, showing footage of today's akuma attack. Adrien looked curiously on as images of him fighting with the super villain filled the screen (man he looked awesome on camera kicking bad guy butt). It seems the cameras only caught the fight once it moved outside, missing all of Marinette's rather brilliant strategies in fending off Copcake.

He tried not to think about Marinette encased in the hardened frosting. Since he hadn't had time to stick around after the battle, he waited to see if she would show up in the news broadcast. He once again seemed to have no luck as she was nowhere to be found in the report.

"You know…" Plagg began between mouthfuls of cheese "That girl was pretty good."

Adrien smiled. "Yeah she was." He sighed, flicking the TV off once the news broadcast ended. With a heave he sat up. He paused for a moment, remembering he had one other source of information regarding the days Akuma attack. As soon as his butt hit the seat of his desk chair he hastily directed his browser to the Ladyblog, there had to be something. Afterall, Alya was a friend of Mari's, if anywhere mentioned what happened to her it would be the blog.

As he refreshed the page there were no new posts to be found. A pang of worry struck through him. His eyes drifted to the broken Ladybug figure, still laying in pieces on the desk. LB was strong, and it's not that Mari wasn't, but he suddenly felt guilty for allowing any harm to come to his classmate.

"Adrien?" Plagg floated over, landing on his shoulder. "Are you upset or somethin'?"

Adrien gnawed on his lip. As tempted as he was to shake his head at the question he couldn't quiet muster the assurance that things were all ok. "It's… I dunno Plagg, just thinking about stuff."

"If it's about the figure, I'm really sorry." The demi god said again, hanging his head in shame "I know how important all your Ladybug stuff is to you."

Adrien gave him a reassuring smile and a little pat on the head "Nah don't worry about that. I'm just thinking about Marinette still. I kind of wish the news cameras got there while she was fighting off that baker with me. I didn't know she had it in her!" He leaned back in the desk chair and looked out the window, he could just see the roof of the Patisserie from his room. "She's always so shy and nervous when I see her at school."

Plagg snorted "She wasn't shy today!"

The boy frowned "I wonder why she never acts like that around Adrien- I mean uh me. She never acts that way around me."

"Hmm. Wonder what her deal is." Plagg mused. "You going to try talking to her on Monday?"

Adrien paused. His eyes glanced from his current view down to his phone. He could wait until Monday… She was probably fine, he knew that. I mean Ladybug's miraculous does a pretty good job setting everything right after an akuma attack. But he still felt his hand creeping towards his phone. "I think I'm going to call her." He finally said, grabbing his phone and musing through his contacts.

It took him a minute to find her number. As the phone rang he strummed his fingers against the desk. "Ah, hi Marinette?" He asked when he heard the click of the call go through.

"A-adrien? Ah um… hi!" He heard the voice on the other end say timidly. "Why uh…. What's up?"

Adrien frowned, he wished he could talk to her so easily as his normal self as he could as Chat Noir. Just the same he let out a happy sigh hearing her voice. "I heard about what happened to your family's bakery today, I uh wanted to call and see if you're ok."

Plagg floated up and hovered around the phone. "Oh! Yeah wow that was really something. Cupcakes everywhere. I'm uh, really glad Ladybug and Chat Noir were there."

He couldn't help but smirk a little bit "Oh yeah? I bet it was pretty cool fighting alongside Chat Noir." He paused for a second before continuing. "I'm really glad you're ok. I guess it was good they were there to help save the day."

"Y-yeah it was! Wait..." the girl on the other end paused for a second "How did you know I fought alongside Chat?"

"Oh um I … I saw it on the news!" Adrien stammered. "Yeah they talked about the whole thing."

"Oh, I didn't get to see the broadcast." she said. An awkward silence hung in the conversation for a moment before she continued. "Thanks for checking up on me Adrien… it's really sweet of you."

"Yeah no problem! Like I said I'm glad you're ok." he said, "I'll uh see you on Monday then?"

"Yeah, um… have a good weekend Adrien. Thanks again. Bye!"

Click.

Adrien pulled his phone away from his ear and looked it over, Marinettes contact picture still lit up on his screen. He shifted his eyes from the phone to his computer where he still had his background of Ladybug up. After a moment he put his phone down and stood up, grabbing the figure and her broken parts. "Come on Plagg let's get that glue and fix this up."


	2. The Collector

Adrien had begun to grow used to nights without much sleep. Between late night patrols, school work, modeling, and trying to fit in a few hours for himself, it had become routine. But even then, this morning had been particularly difficult. Had he not been so motivated by his mission objective today, he would have spent the whole day snoozing in bed.

Was he in bed? Nope. Instead he was sitting outside at 7 am (though he'd been there since five) in the cold in a line outside the collectables shop. Posters were plastered all over the shops windows, advertising for the brand new Ladybug figure (it was even possible!). Suffice it to say, this figure would be kept in a glass box, and well away from Plagg.

Nino (who had been dragged out after much coercion and the promise of a free breakfast and coffee after words) was dozing off on Adrien's shoulder. It was taking the blonde most of his willpower to not nod off a bit himself.

He had tried to sleep, honest to god he did. But all night his mind was filled with thoughts. Thoughts that may or may not have mostly centered around a certain classmate of his. Even now his thoughts drifted back to her… he remembered how deftly she dealt with the baker akuma, her grin each time she managed to land a hit on him…. How she fought so hard to help him…That little smile she gave when she freed him from the frosting... _dammit Agreste! Get your act together, you're a one woman man for heaven's sake!_ His inner thoughts shouted, dragging him back to more sensible trains of thought.

It wasn't just any woman who he would do this sort of thing for. And Ladybug was certainly amazing. And was certainly a popular figure in Paris. As Adrien looked around at the rest of the crowd he noted that it was mostly male. He wasn't a fan of so many guys feeling the same about Ladybug as he did, but he felt secure (and a bit smug) knowing how he knew her better than anyone.

Like Nino, Plagg was snoring away, tucked safely away inside his bag. Every now and again Adrien would open it up just to make sure he was ok. The little cat like creature was snuggled up with a piece of (thankfully cling wrapped) camembert. The demi god had given him plenty of flack last night for 'endlessly' talking about Marinette. But who could blame him? A lot happened yesterday, he saw a side of her he'd never seen before.

Well that wasn't entirely true. He'd seen Mari take charge like that before, smile like that before, but never with him. Before he could puzzle too hard over her Nino let out another loud snore in his ear, breaking him free of any thought beyond mild annoyance.

Adrien checked his watch. It wouldn't be too much longer till the doors opened. He nudged Nino a bit "Nino…, hey man the store opens soon get up."

The DJ was having none of this, instead wrapping his arms a bit around Adrien and groaning "Mom leave me alone it's not a school day…"

Adrien rolled his eyes and pushed his friend off him "Come on man get up."

Nino groaned and cracked his eyes open and pulled away, stretching his arms up with a big yawn. Both boys slowly rose to their feet, still leaning against the store front. "Ugh you owe me man."

Adrien nodded "I know I know… but uh hey, thanks for coming along." He said smiling over at his friend. "I really appreciate it, there was no way my dad was going to let me come here by myself."

Nino gave a small smile and a soft punch to Adrien's shoulder. "Hey don't sweat it compadre. Besides, it'll make a good birthday gift for Alya."

Adrien nodded and looked at the line that had formed behind them. As much as it had been a pain getting up this early he was glad they did. The queue had stretched around the block and curved around the street corner. He knew a few people at the end we're probably going to be out of luck once they got to the front.

"So how is that going by the way?" Adrien asked leaning over giving Nino a smirk "You and Alya that is."

The other boy fiddled with his hat, a bit of a blush forming across his cheeks. "S'pretty good." he said smiling. It had been a few months since Ladybug had trapped both of them in a cage at the zoo (to keep them safe from a renegade zoo keeper turned panther), but the two were still inseparable. "Were meeting up at the the Patisserie later, I can't wait to see what she thinks of her gift." at this point he was grinning from ear to ear just thinking about her.

Adrien looked over at the cardboard cut out of Ladybug in front of the store. As much as the thought amused him, he wasn't entirely sure what she'd think if Chat Noir gave her a figurine of herself.

Before he could get too lost in thought again the doors to the shop opened and excited clamoring came from the line around them.

* * *

As the two boys walked down the streets of Paris the sun had finally fully risen, and the city was abuzz with parisians and tourists alike enjoying the saturday morning. Nino was still yawning as they walked by the Seine, the green vendors stalls out in full force already hocking their wares.

"So where do you want to get breakfast?" Adrien asked, looking around at several of the cafe's, all so far full to the brim with people.

Nino shrugged "Eh everywhere seems pretty busy, I'm meeting Alya at the bakery anyways, buy me a croissant and I'll call it even." he said putting a hand on Adrien's shoulder, an odd glint in his eye.

"Uh, sure if that's what you want." Adrien said raising an eyebrow "Lead the way I guess."

Perhaps it was the early morning, perhaps it was the night spent in thought instead of sleep. Either way the blonde must have been some what out of it, for he hadn't expected the pair to arrive at the Tom & Sabine's Boulangerie Patisserie.

"Wait Nino isn't this Marinettes family's bakery?" Adrien asked. It's not like he didn't want to see Marinette. She was nice enough. But he had spent the better part of last night trying _not_ to think about her, and he was fairly sure seeing her was not going to help his situation.

"Yeah her folks make the best croissants in Paris man." Nino clasped his hands together and swooned "Sweet buttery goodness you're gunna be mine!"

Adrien didn't have time to answer before Nino pulled him into the shop. Unlike yesterday where there was a bakery in chaos, today it was pristine and filled to the brim with delectable treats.

They had hardly stepped through the door before Alya was waving them over and calling out her boyfriends name. She was leaning against a display case of macarons. Adrien looked around, and frowned when there was no sign of Marinette anywhere. A few patrons were about the store, and Adrien thought he recognized his classmates parents behind the counter. He had only met them once or twice, but each time they had been fairly pleasant. Sure enough a large man with a finely groomed mustache perked up and waved at the pair as they entered, he was the 'Tom' of 'Tom and Sabines Patisserie'.

Nino smiled and straightened out his hat. With the best swagger he could muster he made his way over to Alya. "I uh… heard there was a pretty awesome girl hanging around here…. Who happened to be having a birthday." He said wiggling his eyebrows and holding out a plastic bag with 'Paris Collectibles' printed across the front.

Alya looked perplex for a moment before bursting into a laugh "Nino you dork." she smiled and gave him a small kiss on the cheek and took the bag to open it.

"I'm uh, sorry I didn't have time to wrap it." he said taking his cap off and fiddling with it in his hands, a blush spreading across his cheeks. Alya meanwhile opened the bag, her eyes lighting up instantly.

The girl squealed and pulled Nino into a crushing embrace, nearly lifting him off the ground. "I can't believe you! Thew new Ladybug figuarts figure with poseable limbs and light up yoyo?!" Nino blushed harder as she continued to twirl him around the shop, the other patrons pausing to watch the scene. A few chuckled to themselves. "You must have had to wait in line for hours to get this! Oh Nino! Thankyouthankyouthankyou THANK YOU."

Adrien laughed a bit, he knew Alya was a huge Ladybug fan (after all, she did run the Ladyblog) but he hadn't expected this reaction from her. He mused over what she would say if she knew one of her friends was in fact Chat Noir.

"Alya what's going on out there?" A voice asked from the back of the shop, Adrien could practically feel his cat ears swiveling to focus on the sound (even though he didn't have them on at the moment). Emerging through a set of swinging doors Marinette was carrying a tray of cupcakes. All delicately frosted in lavender icing, and fine silver sprinkles that glittered.

Adrien couldn't help but smile when he saw her. If only he could say she did the same.

Instead Marinettes eyes popped and she started to fumble "Ah A-Adrie- gah!" between tripping on her words the girl had also managed to trip on her own feet. Adrien lunged forward and grabbed the platter of cakes before it could come crashing down. She managed to catch herself on the counter and groaned.

"You ok girl?" Alya asked Marinette while Adrien put the tray down on the counter, giving a sigh of relief as he accounted every cupcake unscathed. Mari nodded and rubbed her elbow which she had managed to smack against the glass display case during her tumble.

"Y-yeah I'm fine." She said blushing. "Um thank you for cupcakes saving- I mean, um, saving the cupcakes." She looked over at Adrien. Well, 'looked' was a strong term, really she kept shifting her gaze from him to her feet.

He gave a weak smile. "It's no problem, I'm just glad you're alright" He never really understood what it was she didn't like about him. She seemed shy, but he'd seen her be more confident with every one besides him. His mind kept filtering to the Marinette of yesterday. The Marinette with that determined look in her eye, the one who wouldnt give up. The Marinette who, despite being a civilian, was standing toe to toe with a full fledged Akuma.

"Oh!" Mari lifted the tray again and held it out to her friends "Do you guys want some, they're fresh from the oven!" she smiled looking down at the cupcakes "It's moms award winning french vanilla."

Adrien hesitated. He didn't have much of an appetite for frosted cupcakes after yesterday, but he certainly didn't want to come off as rude. The others both smiled and happily took a desert. He reached out and picked the cake with the least amount of icing on it.

Despite his reservations, the cupcake tasted good. Terrific in fact. It was all he could do to not immediately scarf down the thing after the first initial bite.

Marinette smiled watching her friends enjoy the treats, picking up a cupcake herself and delicately swiping the frosting with her finger and tasting it. Her pink lips curled up into a delightful smile and she let out an adorable 'mmm' (If Adrien's stomach wasn't currently full of delicious cupcake, he would have sworn there was a butterfly floating around in there somewhere.)

Adrien had been perhaps a bit too busy watching Marinette, as he was too distracted to notice the form behind him approaching until two large and strong hands lightly coated in flour clapped him on the shoulder. The blonde nearly jumped out of his skin before a big hearty laugh echoed from behind him.

"So good to see you again Adrien." The man smiled as Adrien turned around to look at him. "Are you all enjoying the cupcakes?"

The kids all nodded. Nino gave out a muffled 'yes sir', but because of the mouth full of cupcakes it came out more of a "Yesserr" (which made Alya laugh. Lightly punching him 'chew your food first dummy')

"Good good." Mr. Dupain smiled moving to stand by his daughter. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her tight. "You know little Mari made these herself?" He said beaming and ruffling up her hair.

"Dad! She squeaked trying to fix her hair. "I really didn't…. I helped you make them more than anything."

Tom Dupain shook his head and waggled his finger "All I did was tell you how to do the recipe, you did all the work. You even helped protect the bakery during that Akuma attack yesterday while me and your mom were gone."

Marinette shook her head again "No really I didn't do anything." She insisted. Adrien had to use all his willpower to keep his surprise at bay.

"But you helped Chat Noir out!" He piped, when Alya and Nino turned to him he quickly shrugged his shoulders "Or so um, so I heard."

Mari just shook her head again "Not really, I uh really only got caught in a hunk of icing. If Ladybug and Chat Noir hadn't been there I don't know what I would have done." she smiled and rubbed the back of her neck.

Alya put a hand on Mari's free shoulder "Girl I don't know how you do it but you always get yourself wrapped up in those Akuma attacks…"

"Well I have a certain best friend who likes to drag me along with her when they happen." She smiled and poked Alya in the stomach, causing the other girl to giggle and retreat to a safe distance.

"Hey you know I gotta give the people what they want!" She grinned holding up her phone "And what the people want is Ladybug and Chat Noir!"

"You mean that's what you want." Marinette smiled.

"Hey! It can be a mutual interest!"

The banter continued but Adrien's thoughts began to run away with him. Why would she be lieing? Maybe she just didn't want her friends to worry about her? Chat considered what she did much more than 'getting stuck in some icing'. He wasn't sure what he would have done without her quick wits in that fight. She had practically saved his life! He mused that perhaps she was one of those people that really shined under pressure, it would account for her shyness every where else. Was she being modest? Maybe she just didn't consider what she did that heroic (if that was the case then he thought she was surely mistaken).

The sounds of screams slowly rose from outside the bakery, pulling Adrien back to the here and now as he swiveled his head around to see what was going on. When he heard the sound of evil laughter it took all he had not to groan (because really? Again? Why can't these things take weekends off)

Before Tom had the chance to tell the children to go upstairs and stay where it's safe, Alya had snatched Marinettes hand and was already dashing through the door "Thanks for the cupcakes Mr. Dupain! We'll be back in a little bit!"

"Alya no it's dangerous!" Nino squeaked dashing out the door after her.

"Sorry Mr. Dupain! I'll go bring them back!" Adrien yelled, the last to flee the bakery. He would make sure they all made it back safe and sound, but first he had to find some place to transform.

His eyes scanned the city streets looking for anything promising. Finally he spotted a decently dark looking alleyway. He slipped away from the group and into the darkness. For safe measure he ducked behind a trash can before letting Plagg out of his bag.

"Two days in a row?" The cat groaned flying out of his containment and hovering in front of Adrien's face.

"Hey I don't control when these things happen!" Chat sighed. If he did he'd schedule in a good break. His muscles still ached from yesterday- but he knew what he had to do. "Come on Plagg, claws out!"

In a flash of green the powers of his kumi enveloped him, and he emerged ready for action. His ears swiveled as he listened for the sounds of the akuma attack.

Screams were somewhere in the distance, as well as a booming laughter. They seemed to be west of his position. He paused only briefly, giving a quick little stretch before he extended his staff, raising him high into the air. Soon he was flying across the rooftops of Paris as fast as his legs could carry him.

He had hoped that Nino would catch up to the girls before they could arrive on the scene. He hoped they wouldn't get there at all and would some how find their way to safety.

His desires were dashed when he finally found himself in the square by Notre Dame. But then again, he wasn't sure what to think when he got to the scene of the attack.

While Chat had hoped that Ladybug would arrive before him, he wasn't exactly sure of what to think of the dozens of ladybugs around him. "A-am I dreaming?" He stammered. Indeed there were many ladybugs, but it quickly dawned on him, that none were moving. All seemed trapped in different iconic LB poses. "Okkkkk uh… Ladybug? The real Ladybug? Where are you?" He called out looking worried. Under normal circumstances he would be pleased as punch with all this super heroine eye candy, but he wasn't about to let himself get distracted. A group of civilians attempted to run from the square. The boy saw as one girl tripped, and while attempting to get up was hit with a blast of light, leaving yet another Ladybug statue in her place.

"Ahhhh Chat Noir, so kind of you to join us." A voice cackled, perched on top of one of the churches bell towers. He was a rather full figure, his skin a pale white, eyes covered by a standard black mask. His outfit consisted of a black trench coat, fingerless gloves, and fedora. He struck Adrien as the sort of fellow that rarely left his basement.

"Oh no." Chat groaned, he could already tell he was not a fan of this akuma.

"I don't usually buy Chat figurines…. but I'll have to make an exception and add you to the collection- after I take your miraculous that is! Besides I think you'll look better with some red in your costume." A beam of white light flew towards him, the hero only just managed to dodge it.

"I think my costume is just purrfect- thank you very much!" Chat called out, giving a his tail a little twirl with his left hand.

"Ohmygosh!" He heard a voice from somewhere behind him. Adrien turned to see Alya and Marinette, Nino panting behind them as he just caught up. Chats heart sank, he had really been hoping that something would have stopped them. He could count on one hand just how many friends he had, and he wasn't happy that three of them were not exactly in the safest of places.

"Alya come on we should get out of here!" Marinette urged, tugging on her friends shirt. Her eyes were darting every where, as if looking for a safe place for them to hide.

"Girl hold my bag I need to film this!" She shrieked throwing her birthday present at Mari who thankfully managed to catch it. Her hands free she whipped out her phone with glee. "Go Chat Noir! Kick his butt!"

Chat gave a worried smile "Dont worry! This cat's got it in the bag!" Under normal circumstances he wouldn't have to put on an act of confidence. But his mind kept racing back to yesterday, Mari trapped, that look of fear on her face when the icing encased her…

He shook his head, setting his eyes straight ahead at the akuma. He was going to defend his friends and hold this guy off till Ladybug showed up. She always showed up after all, he could do this.

The villain came zooming down from his perch towards Chat. 'Great so he can fly too.' he groaned internally, sometimes these villains power sets were a mystery to behold. Suddenly there were lights flashing by him everywhere. He twisted and contorted his body to dodge them all, a few times nearly becoming one of the dozens of Ladybug figurines littering the square.

"Oh man this is getting intense." Alya cooed making sure to get it all on video. "But man where's the real Ladybug?"

"Alya come on we should get out of here!" Mari urged tugging harder on her friend, but it was as if Alya's feet were made of stone because man they were not budging.

"Hurry! Get to safety!" Chat yelled, dodging another blast of light. The nerd turned akuma was still in hot pursuit. Surveying his surroundings no places to hide or dodge behind were really coming up. Really this is why he hated fighting in open squares.

As another blast came straight for him the hero thought fast, grabbing one of the Ladybug statues and throwing it towards the villain.

The akuma stumbled over the obstacle, sending his next blast crooked, and straight for the girls.

"No!" All adrien could see was terror as he spun on his heels towards his friends. He knew he couldn't make it in time, but he had to try!

Just as it was about to collide with the girls Mari dove, taking Alya down with her as both the girls clattered to the ground. Just barely missing the beam. Mari let out a small cry as they hit.

"Alya! Mari!" Nino rushed over to them.

Mari moved to sit up but cringed and cradled her wrist. "Were fine!" she said hurrying to her feet, one hand grabbing Alya's arm. "Come on you've got your footage let's get out of here!" Adrien had never seen such a look of determination in her face before. She didn't even give her friend time to argue before booking it out of there, dragging the journalist with her.

Chat breathed a quick sigh of relief as the three ducked into an alley, before the Akuma roared in anger. Right, bad guy to fight.

His eyes scanned the man, looking for any sign of weakness, for a place a dark butterfly might hide in. He certainly was an interesting akuma…. "So what's your name anyways?" Chat asked, extending his staff and giving it a twirl.

"I am the great and fearful Collector!" The Collector cackled, dodging a whack from Chats baton.

The cat laughed "The Collector? Really?" He went in for another swipe, which the villain managed to dodge.

"I collect all things Ladybug! I waited in line for hours this morning for that new figure… only for it to be sold out to inferior LB fans! But soon, I'll show them, I will posses the real Ladybug!" He yelled.

"Not this bug!" A voice called from the top of the church.

 _Oh thank god_ Chat sighed to himself. He had been fighting way too long with out back up. And for some one who looked like they never left their mothers basement, the Collector sure was fast. With a smile she swung down and landed beside him. "Nice of you to drop in!" Chat smiled giving her a wink.

The girl rolled her eyes and pulled her yo-yo to her. "Wow, it's like looking in a dozen mirrors." She said surveying the scene. "Do I really look like that when I summon my charm?" She asked pointing towards one of the many frozen LB statues.

Chat smirked "You look positively purrfect no mater what you're doing Bugaboo!" He swooned. "But none of these can compare to the real LB so lets say we take this guy out!"

"Sounds good to me!" She said. "My best guess is the Akuma is in his hat!"

"Roger that, one outdated hat coming right up!" Chat said, giving a fancy twirl of his baton before going in for the prize.

"Outdated?!" The Collector cried, sending a blast of light Chat's way. "No one appreciates a nice guy with classy fashion in this day and age." He groaned managing to grab Chat's staff and push him away.

With a growl he turned his attentions away from the cat and towards the super heroine. "I'll deal with you after I collect my last piece of Ladybub memorabilia, her Miraculous!" A beam exploded from his hand and went straight for LB.

"Ladybug!" Chat yelled. He saw as she rolled away and managed to dodge. When she moved to push off the ground the girl winced and brought her wrist up to her chest and held it. The boy felt his ears turn down, had she hurt herself?

"Oh man that hurts!" She whispered to herself before moving her good hand to help her off the floor. "Right I've had just about enough of this- Lucky Charm!" She cried swinging her yo-yo up into the air.

The bright pink flash of light was replaced by the sight of LB holding a fishing rod and looking at it quizzically.

"We need to catch this akuma not a fish!" Chat groaned looking at the black and red dotted rod.

Ladybugs eyes scanned around before a grin spread across her face. "Chat distract him for me! I got an idea!"

Noir smiled. "On it my lady!" He said rushing back into the fray.

The Collector growled and gritted his teeth. "You think you're so cool…" he said sending multiple blasts of power towards the hero. "You don't deserve to be by her side!"

Chat rolled his eyes. "Says the one who wants to turn her into a literal object instead of you know, accepting she's a person." He said swinging a low kick that managed to trip the older man, sending him falling back onto his behind.

"She will be mine- only I deserve to own the really Ladybug!" He cried getting up "Wait- where is she?!"

Chat looked around. He saw plenty of perfectly still red and black superheroes. But he couldn't see the real one. "Oh man…" his mind raced, he had dodged so many light beams. He felt his stomach sink as he imagined one of those stray blasts hitting his partner.

"Right behind you!" A voice called, the girl smiling as she dropped her still act and pulled the fishing rod back, before sending it flying. The hook snagged the hat and reeled it right into her hand.

"Right now where's that butterfly- ah ha!" Ladybug smiled pulling from the hat a folded up flyer for an action figure that had turned black from the Akuma. She promptly tore it in two.

As the pieces fell to the ground a small dark butterfly flew out. Chat watched transfixed as the girl flung her yo-yo and trapped it inside. "Miraculous Ladybug!" In a flash the toy opened and remembering was a simple white butterfly. "No more evil doing for you little Akuma." Ladybug smiled as it flew off.

"Phew-" Chat sighed dropping to the ground and groaning. "Man two fights in one weekend is two fights too many."

The girl smiled and gave a little giggle. "So you are a lazy cat after all!" She said holding out her left hand to help him up.

The boy smiled and took it, rising to his feet as the statues around them all returned to being normal people again. "Though to be honest- I didn't entirely mind being surrounded by you's." he grinned.

Ladybug rolled her eyes at him. "Ever the charmer." She said.

"Pound it." Chat said holding his fist out to hers.

She smiled and returned the gesture, only to recoil once their fists touched. She tenderly held her limp wrist with her good hand.

"My lady?" The boy asked, he could feel his cat ears turning down in worry. "Did you hurt yourself?"

"It's fine." She smiled at him, before hearing a blinking sound from her earrings. "And that's my que!" She said dashing off. "Nice job today!" She called with a wave before disappearing.

"Yeah… nice job." He sighed. Watching a tiny flash of pink from an alley.

* * *

After finding his own safe spot to de transform Adrien slumped against the alley wall and sighed.

"I demand a day off or I'm going on strike." Plague groaned hovering near the models shoulder.

Adrien smiled and gave him a gentle pet with two fingers. "Hey I don't control when these things happen man. Let's just hope Hawkmoth takes Sundays off."

The cat creature groaned "Do you have any cheese?" He begged starting to zoom around the boys pockets, searching for any scrap.

"Yeah yeah hold on." He said reaching into his front jeans pocket and retrieving a small morsel of carefully wrapped Camembert. "I'll give you some more when we get home. We've both eared a rest. But first we should find the others-" he said while pulling out his phone.

And indeed it was lit up with text messages, mostly from Nino.

It didn't take long to track down him and Alya. When Adrien caught up to them the DJ waved frantically while Alya impatiently tapped her foot while listening on her phone.

The boy looked around and noticed something was missing. "Where's Marinette?" He asked.

Nino shook his head "No clue! We lost her at some point when we were running away. Alya's been trying to call her."

The girl groaned and clicked her phone. "Still no answer. I swear one minute she was behind me and the next she was gone."

Adrien could feel himself growing more tense. He had been so preoccupied with keeping the Collecter at bay he didn't have time to make sure that all three of his friends had gotten away safely.

Just as he was half debating how much Plagg would chew him out for transforming again to try and find her- a call was heard from the other side of the square.

"Alya!" Mari yelled running over, looking generally no worse for ware than she had before. Much to Adriens relief as he felt the tension leave his shoulders. She was safe.

"Girl where on earth have you been?!" Alya sighed pulling her friend in for a hug. "I was worried!"

"Sorry sorry." Mari said "I tripped when we were running and ended up hiding in an alley."

"Well please at least pick up your phone next time!" Alya sighed resting a hand on the other girls shoulder.

But meanwhile Adrien had noticed the Marinette had this whole time been gently grasping her wrist. His mind flashed back to that tumble she and Alya took when dodging the akuma's powers. He hadn't thought she had fallen that hard but he could see how she was trying to guard it.

"Wait Adrien where were you during the fight?" Nino asked.

The models eyes snapped back up to look at his friend. "Oh uh… I was chasing after you guys but I lost you and wound up hiding the whole time."

"Well at least I got some killer Chat Noir footage for the sight!" Alya grinned whipping out her phone with glee. "I missed LB's appearance but Chat was doing pretty good. Man I cant wait to upload this tonight!"

Adrien gave a small grin before quickly remembering to wipe it off his face. "Yeah Chats pretty cool I guess." He said, repressing any Noir like desires to brag about how yes he did in fact do pretty damn good today.

"He was pretty cool yesterday at the bakery." Mari smiled.

The hero shifted his eyes to the girl. He felt his words catch in his throat for a moment. "He was?"

The bakers daughter smiled. "Yeah, he held off the akuma for a really long time all by himself. I was really glad he was there."

Adrien felt his cheeks start to flush slightly, and quickly slapped his hands up to his face.

"Adrien? Yo bro you ok?" Nino asked tilting his head.

"Huh? Uh- yeah yeah I'm fine! I just remembered I uh got to get home." He said keeping his hands firmly covering any hints of pink. "I'll see you guys later!" He called running off in the direction of home.

The trio watched him run off. "What's up with him?" Alya asked.

Nino shook his head. "Frankly, I have no idea."


End file.
